-The Hindu Business Line A realistic MSP, better market access and warehouses Agriculture is not a profitable business in India. About 70 per cent of the country’s farmers are struggling to make ends meet. In 2012-13, the NSSO’s ‘Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households’ showed that farmers who own 1 hectare or less of land see an average monthly income of ?5,247, which doesn’t even suffice to meet their household expenses. Prime Minister...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Drumsticks beat back poverty in arid zones -Hiren Kumar Bose
-The Hindu Business Line Superfood moringa is proving to be a boon for subsistence farmers Names like PKM 2, Bhagya KDM 1, Rohit 1, Siddhi Vinayaka.... may not ring a bell among urban readers, but those engaged in subsistence farming will recognise these as the high-yielding varieties of Moringa olifera (drumstick tree). This tree (called murungae in Tamil) has been around for ages, but ever since the world at large claimed moringa as...
More »Traditional paddy helps strike gold in the time of drought -S Kumaresan
-The New indian Express PUDUKKOTTAI: Drought, unseasonal rains, wilting crops, soaked harvest, suicides and clamour for compensation. These are the words that one associates with farming these days. However, amidst the gloom, a woman farmer, who refused to give in to the vagaries of nature, is a beacon of hope for the distressed. While paddy crops in various districts were damaged, A Gandhi, from Sundarappatti, who cultivated traditional paddy on her...
More »Will Budget help double farmers' income? -Vidya Venkat
-The Hindu Most of the earnings of the average farm household were spent in meeting consumption expenditures. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a slew of measures in the Union Budget 2017 to boost the agriculture sector. Higher agricultural credit, higher allocation for irrigation projects, a crop insurance scheme and increased allocations for MGNREGA to dig farm ponds were among the measures announced on February 1. But will these help attain the goal...
More »Why our farmers are killing themselves -A Narayanamoorthy & P Alli
-The Hindu Business Line Rising input costs have shrunk profits, making Cultivation unviable. Easy access to credit and better MSPs can help The unremitting wave of farmer suicides has resurfaced, now haunting the farming heartlands of Tamil Nadu. Troubled by a severely deficit monsoon which triggered the worst drought in 140 years, over 100 farmers, mostly in the Cauvery delta, have reportedly committed suicide during a period of one month, and the...
More »